Nicer than a Hive of Killer Bees
by Himizu and Kurotamashii
Summary: Keita Naomi doesn't want to move. But she actually learns to love her new music class, School of Rock. What happens when a boy in the band helps her understand not only herself, but the boy as well.
1. Some Guy she Met Online

All I heard was "the school has an outstanding music program", and I was hooked.

I _was_ the lead guitar in my best friend's band. And I was first flute in marching band. And first sax when they needed me. But my genius mother decided that I'd be "happier if we moved away from the pressures of the big city". We didn't even LIVE in the big city. I knew she just wanted to get closer to some goob she met online. Don't even THINK of what your own DAUGHTER might feel about it.

But anyway, now I'm enrolled at Horace Green Magnet School, the best middle school in the state. Like I care. _I _care about leaving Steffi, and Greg. But no one cares about that, do they.

The first day of school, I walked into my homeroom. Eighth grade. My teacher was the biggest nerd. I don't even remember his name. But he made me stand up in front of the class, introduce myself, and talk about my interests. "I'm Keita Naomi. I like music. Of any kind. I can and will play anything. But I hate this place, and sorry, but I hate all of you." At this, Mr. Nerd made me sit down.

I took a seat in the back, and saw the whole class staring at me. I shot a few preppy girls a death look, and they looked sullenly at their desktops, but the boys on either side of me wouldn't take their eyes off me. One of them had spiky blonde hair with his sleeves rolled up, and the other had black hair, a slim black tie, and his shirt untucked. I was wondering how they got past the principal, since I had tried almost all those things, and she said that my clothes were a severe breach of school dress code, when the blonde one threw a note over my head, directed at the other boy. Not wanting to give them the wrong impression, I caught the note, and, smirking at the blonde boy, read it.

"Hey Zack," it said in a sloppy, boyish, handwriting, "What do you think of what's her name, Catty? Think she can actually play?" I took out a Sharpie, and wrote, "My name is Keita. And yeah, I can play. What can you? I don't really think so. Feel free to pass this to Zack. I don't mind."

I tossed the ripped scrap of paper back at the blonde boy, and as he read it, I saw his eyes widen slightly. He whispered to me, "I'm Freddie. Give this to Zack."

Music class was... amazing. We had to pull some strings to get me into Advanced Music, because apparently, it was only open to "certain individuals". I could see why. The music class was made up of the band School of Rock, whom I had heard of, but never actually seen. Their lead singer, Dewey Finn, was the teacher. The classroom walls were plastered with posters of the Ramones, ACDC, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath. I walked into class, late, and everyone looked up. Freddie waved me over to where he was sitting with Zack and some other girl, who was holding a bass guitar.

"Hey, Katie," said the bass girl, "My name's Katie, too. I play bass. What do you play?"

"My name is Keita. As in _Kate- UH_. And I play pretty much anything." Katie was staring at me with interest, when the teacher came over.

"Hey, Keita, yeah, this is like, a really serious band, and we've already got the onstage part of the band in sync, so I guess you can be a roadie. Just move stuff around and whatnot. Talk to Marco over there about your duties."

Normally, something like THAT would have made me so mad, but in this case, I understood. This WAS a real band, and I didn't want to knock of the fung- shui of things. I knew how bands really worked.

A/N- This is me!!! The author! Anyway, not much to say about this chapter, but here's the thing. I'm going to ask a question after every chapter. You review with your answer, and I'll post the best one with my next chapter, and dedicate the chapter to them. So review!!! Fast! No question this chapter though. Sorry.


	2. MY Name is KateUH

Day 2 

The next day, people just came to me during music class. Freddie and Zack and Katie, who were my best friends here so far. Katie wasn't NEARLY as stupid or annoying as I had thought. Plus, the three of them had all of my classes with me.

It started when I saw Zack in a corner, playing his guitar. He seriously rocked. And I mean "Hendrix- would- be- proud- to- hear- him- play good". I tapped him on the shoulder, and said, "Hey, can I play a few chords?"

Zack looked at me like he was appraising me, and said, "I don't let ANYONE play this baby but me. You can use that old guitar over there." He pointed across the room where a guitar rested on the stand, dusty. I grimaced, muttered, "Thanks a lot," and picked it up. I played my old band's best song, and while I was just playing around, teaching Zack to play, the class gathered around.

Dewey stared at my hands, and said, in near awe, " You... can play. Can you play anything else?"

I had heard these words so many times. "Name an instrument," I challenged him.

He thought for a moment, "Bass," I nodded. "Keyboard?"

"And piano."

"Drums?"

"What kind?" I said defiantly.

"What else can you play?" asked Dewey, while the rest of the class watched us, like watching a tennis match.

"Well, flute is my main instrument, but I play all types of sax, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, tuba, oboe, and I'm working on my singing."

"Welcome to the band," Dewey said ceremoniously. The class clapped.

At lunch, Freddie approached me. "Hey, me and Zack are going to go out for a bit after school. Wanna come?"

"Only if you teach me how to get past this gay dress code," I said solemnly, pointing at our drab uniforms.

"Deal," he laughed, and shook my hand.

**A/N- Sorry, this chapter was so short, but it seemed like it was a good place to break. So how will it go after school. How can you get past the ever- elusive dress code issue? What is it with Freddie and Zack being so... NICE?**

**QUESTION: If she were to go out with either of them, do you think Jules would pick Zack or Freddie and why? **


	3. Dress Code Violation

A/N. I didn't really get any answers to the chapter's question, but I'm dedicating this chapter to someone anyway. This chapter is dedicated to endymion015, for being my first decent reviewers. I've been on FanFiction for a long time, not necessarily under the same screen name, and mostly, all I get for reviews are "OMG I LOVE IT!" endymion015 told me the truth about my story. Now I know what areas are good, what areas need work. It's nice to actually get some constructive criticism now and then. After School- Day 2 

After school, I took a bus with Freddie and Zack to the West Side of town. We went to a really cool CD store, where we all bought School of Rock t- shirts. How cool is that? We have shirts!

We went to a pizza place situated between two bars and ordered a large pepperoni. "So, how do you manage to dress cool and not get in trouble?" I asked between bites.

The boys exchanged a look, and Freddie swallowed a huge piece of pizza quickly. "We're in the band. You can do anything if you're in a rockin' band."

"Well, I'm in the band," I said. "Does that mean I can too? And I don't get it. What am I playing?"

Zack took a moment to think about that. Then, he pulled out a small, black cell phone. "Summer," he said into the phone. "You know the new girl, Keita?... Yeah... what is she going to play?... Seriously? Cool. Bye, Summer." He looked at me and told me, "You'll be playing whatever. If we ever need anything, which we almost always do, we'll call on you. One of our songs would sound great with a sax..." He trailed off.

They taught me a very long handshake, which apparently, Dewey had taught them back when they were ten years old and the band was just getting started, and we all caught busses back to our respective houses.

FREDDIE POV 

Keita's hair looked so cool under the store lights. Not... that I like her or anything, it just did. Kind of bluish. Anyway, I just met her, but she is just so cool. Keita isn't like any girl I ever knew. She's really in- your- face, and she can play anything- it's true! Plus, she mentioned to me that she likes burning stuff, just like me! Zack is awesome, and he is my best friend in the whole world, but he's just so quiet. Keita is already starting to fill gaps in our conversations.

ZACK POV 

Keita isn't like anyone I've ever known. She is just... different. I don't know how. Like, at one point, she's all quiet and polite, then the next, BAM! She's all in your face and sarcastic. It's like she's got a balance of everything. Jimi Hendrix is her favorite guitarist, and she loves the Ramones. Just like me. Plus, Dewey respects her, and he doesn't respect many. Not really.

Anyway, Freddie is my best friend, but sometimes, he's just a complete idiot. Keita knows when to stop kidding and come down to Earth. I think she'll really help Freddie. And me.

KEITA POV 

I had a great time tonight. I still can't forget Steffi and all the fun we had, but still, I really like Freddie and Zack. They're really cool. And it's weird. My mom said one time "Music will take you no where. You are going to be an anchor, not a rock star. Why go after it now? It's just a waste of time." The only reason I was allowed to be in marching band was because it counted as a PE credit. My mom hates that I like music so much.

She doesn't get it. She NEVER gets it. It's not just about having fun and getting famous for me. Music is like my religion. I don't believe in God; not in the normal sense at least. Music is like, the thing that keeps me here. It keeps me sane.

DAY 3 

When I finished my hair, rolled up my sleeves, loosened my tie, and applied copious amounts of eyeliner, I went downstairs to the kitchen to grab a waffle for the road. I was late. My mom looked up from her morning Sudoku puzzle, and said, "There's no way you're going to school like that."

I just smirked, grabbed my waffle, and on the way out the door, said, "We'll see." I had missed the bus, so I decided to walk. Who cares if I was late? It's just homeroom.

Half an hour after the bell rang, I strolled into class and slouched into my seat, aware of the whole class' eyes on me. "Where were you, Ms. Naomi?" said Mr. Nerd, in his obnoxious, nasally voice.

"Eh, just taking a walk. Eating some breakfast. You know, normal stuff." I replied casually. Freddie high fived me, Katie snickered, and out of the corner of my eye, I watched Zack put his head on his arms, shaking silently. Mr. Nerd looked over his abnormally large nose and wrote something on a clipboard.

Today for band practice, I brought some instruments. I had my flute stuffed in my back pack, and my sax in one hand. "Just in case, you know. If you ever need some backup." Then, since I didn't have an assigned instrument for the song they were practicing that particular day, I sat on the back counter and wrote.

_One day, I stepped out of the room._

_Lost in time,_

_Lost in the momma's womb._

_She said, over my head._

"_What ya doin'?_

_Why you dead?"_

_Finally, when I looked away,_

_I saw the light,_

_In the middle of the day._

_Sun came out, and said to me._

"_I'm tired, _

_I'm gonna go on my way."_

I didn't notice Freddie beside me, reading my poem. "Hey," he said, taking the paper from me. "That's pretty good. A song?"

Quickly, I yanked the paper out of his hands. "No. Just... nothing. It's nothing."

Zack suddenly appeared on my other side and took my nothing. "It doesn't LOOK like nothing. In fact, it's really pretty good. I like it. You know, we could turn this into one helluva song."

With that, the bell rang. I walked with Katie, Freddie, and Zack to History. "Hey, Keita, can I borrow your poem? I want to try to turn it into musical fusion." Freddie laughed, but I let him have it.

FREDDIE POV 

Okay, so first, she comes to school looking pretty hot, all dressed down. Then, she writes a completely amazing poem, that will probably be our next hit song. 'I think I like this girl.' I say to myself, 'Which is weird, because I just met her. I think I'll ask her out. Yeah, today. Now... I'll write her a note. No, I'll just say it. But what if someone hears? God, is it always so fuckin' hard to ask out a girl?'

I write a note to Keita in my best handwriting. "Keita, do you wanna come get some dinner after school?"

I wait for her to read it. She raises her eyebrow, pulls out er pen and writes, then tosses the note back to me. "Will anyone else be there?" "No. Just us. Is that... ok?" "Can I go change clothes first? I hate this uniform." "Sure." I looked at her, and she winked.

A/N- OOH!!! Keita's got a date!!!! Anyway, this chapters essential question... Oh, If you could be any position in the band, ( And that includes security, roadies, stylists, and groupies, as well), what would you be and why?

**Oh, and if the whole music is religion- I don't believe in God thing offended anyone, sorry, that is just one girl's position on spirituality.**


End file.
